“We weren’t expecting you to come, but you’re welcome if you want to. It would give you and Jordan a chance to catch up.”
Holy hell. He desperately needed to talk with Jordan, but not at some social event where they could only exchange pleasantries. Was he affecting her the way she was affecting him? He thought so, but lust might be causing him to imagine something that wasn’t there. Then again, she’d been waiting for him in the parking lot….
“No pressure, though,” Mila said.
He cleared his throat. “Sounds like fun, but I’m sure we’ll find time to talk later in the day. I need to get the horses back to the ranch.”
“We can handle it, hermano.” Zay’s smile said he was enjoying the heck out of his brother’s obvious infatuation. “Just give Monty the keys to your truck and we’ll haul these critters home, no problem.”
“It’ll go faster with all four of us.” He drilled Zay with a look.
“He’s right,” Monty said. “The sooner we take care of them, the sooner we’ll be back to dunk our big brother.”
“Good point.” Claudie gathered her hair into a ponytail and pulled it through the back of her H&H cap. “Let’s leave these guys to it. C’mon, Jordan. Time for you to meet our very own Dazzling Damsels.”
“I can’t wait.”
As they headed for the flatbed, he caught himself watching Jordan walk away. Which is why he saw her quick peek at him over her shoulder.
It lit him up like a sparkler.
Turning, he faced three knowing smiles. “It’s not like that.”
Their smiles widened.
“It’s not, dammit. We’re old news.” He tugged his hat lower. “Andale. These critters won’t load themselves.”
Grinning, they split up and got started. Moments later their mom beeped the horn as she drove by in the ranch van. Happy chatter spilled out the open windows. He had no trouble picking out Jordan’s voice, or her laughter, which arrowed straight to his groin. If he didn’t get some distance and control, he was going to embarrass himself.
The prospect of sending Adam plunging into the dunking booth motivated his brothers to move quickly. In short order they’d loaded the horses, rolled the wagon onto the flatbed and tied it down.
Zay’s F-350 was hitched to the other horse trailer. Rio was driving their dad’s old truck, towing the flatbed and wagon.
Monty hopped in with Luis. No surprise there. His brother would be full of questions.
That was fine. It would be a relief to talk this out instead of dealing with the ping-pong match going on in his head.
Monty stayed quiet as Luis carefully drove his rig through the parking lot gate and made his way down crowded streets to the road that led out of town. Zay followed and Rio brought up the rear, each taking it slow.
Once their caravan reached the smooth two-lane headed for Laughing Creek, Monty sighed. “It was a good parade.”
“It was.” Tension slowly drained away and he took a deep breath. “Maybe the best ever.” He glanced over at Monty, who gave a nod.
His brother had laid his hat on the dash, leaving a noticeable sweaty crease in his light brown hair, just like their dad used to get. He could see their dad in Monty and Adam, and a little bit in Claudie and Greta.
He didn’t get that crease, at least not that anyone would notice. Neither did Zay or Rio or Mila. They’d all inherited their mom’s hair—dark, thick and curly.
“I’m gonna assume you two got friendly during that clinic.”
His gut tightened a little. “We did. But there was no future in it. She’s traveling around giving clinics, which requires being constantly on the road. I checked her website. She’s deep into that.”
“So still no future?”
“Right.”
“Is this a booty call?”
“I… don’t know. Maybe.”
